Hunger Games Fans Won’t Have to Mourn the Series’ End for Another Three Years

In the spirit of the blockbuster adaptation franchises before it, Harry Potter andTwilight—not to mention profit maximization—Lionsgate has decided to split its adaptation of the last book in theHunger Games trilogy into two installments, Mockingjay Part 1and Mockingjay Part 2. The serialized finale is scheduled to open in theaters on November 21, 2014, and November 20, 2015, meaning that Hunger Games fans need not schedule grief-counseling sessions until at least November 21, 2015. In the meantime, fans can enjoy Francis Lawrences’s adaptation of Catching Fire, the second novel in Suzanne Collins’s best-selling series, when it opens worldwide on November 22 next year. And for those who are bothered by the idea of a studio potentially doubling its profits simply by dividing a finale in two, just imagine the day you’ll be trudging into theaters, decades from now, seeking catharsis from Fifty Shades Freed—Part 8.